Reimbursement and Practice Management
On April 14, 2015, Congress repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) permanently eliminates SGR and provides positive annual payment updates lasting through 2019. Since MACRA significantly changes the way Medicare pays physicians, we have developed a MACRA Resource Page to help educate neurosurgeons about this topic. In addition to our efforts on MACRA, the Coding and Reimbursement Committee is actively involved in bringing or reviewing new or revised CPT codes, is a strong advocate for appropriate valuation of neurosurgical services and neurosurgery’s Rapid Response Team works tirelessly to ensure that third party payors cover necessary neurosurgical services.
Key Resources
Letters
Published: March 21, 2017
Dear Administrator Verma: The undersigned physician organizations welcome the Trump Administration’s emphasis onreducing regulatory burdens. Congress recognized when it passed the Medicare Access andCHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in an overwhelming […]
Letters
Published: March 20, 2017
Dear Secretary Price: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we are writing to request that you use your regulatoryauthority to minimize the 2018 penalties to be imposed on physicians pursuant […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Non-coverage Decision for Washington State HTA Re-review of LumbarADR: 20170120B. Dear Mr. Morse: We, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Congress of NeurologicalSurgeons (CNS), AANS/CNS Joint Section on […]
Letters
Published: December 19, 2016
RE: Medicare Program; Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and AlternativePayment Model Incentive under the Physician Fee Schedule, and Criteria for Physician Focused Payment Models Dear Acting Administrator Slavitt: The Alliance […]
Letters
Published: December 19, 2016
Subject: Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM)Incentive under the Physician Fee Schedule, and Criteria for Physician-FocusedPayment Models: Final Rule with Comment Period (CMS-5517-FC) Dear Administrator Slavitt: […]
Letters
Published: November 16, 2016
Dear Chairman Alexander, Chairman Upton, Ranking Member Murray and Ranking Member Pallone: On behalf of the undersigned organizations dedicated to ensuring a strong national pediatric workforce,we write in support of […]
Letters
Published: October 17, 2016
RE: Accountable Care Organizations Dear Chairman Crosson, The Alliance of Specialty Medicine and its member organizations thank you for the opportunity toprovide input into the Commission’s ongoing efforts to improve […]
Letters
Published: October 6, 2016
Dear Acting Administrator Slavitt and Director Donovan: On April 27th, CMS released a proposed rule to implement the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015. By repealing the […]
Letters
Published: October 6, 2016
Subject: Proposed National Coverage Determination (NCD) for Percutaneous Image guided Lumbar Decompression for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (CAG-00433R) Dear Ms. Jensen, On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), […]
Letters
Published: September 30, 2016
Dear Secretary Burwell: In April 2015, Congress passed, and the president signed into law, the Medicare Accessand CHIP Reauthorization Act (P.L. 114-10). MACRA replaced the flawed sustainablegrowth rate (SGR) formula […]
Article
Published: September 20, 2016
Lawmakers Ask CMS to Ditch Medicare’s Proposed Global Surgery Reporting RequirementsNeurosurgeons Applaud Congressional Effort to Discourage Burdensome Plan Washington, DC—Today, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress ofNeurological […]
Letters
Published: September 16, 2016
Dear Secretary Burwell and Acting Administrator Slavitt: We are writing to express our opposition to the provision in the Centers for Medicare and MedicaidServices’ (CMS) Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed […]
Article
Published: September 9, 2016
Neurosurgeons Blast Global Surgical Reporting Requirements
Article
Published: September 8, 2016
Surgeons to CMS: Don’t Make Us Code Every 10 Minutes of Work
Article
Published: September 7, 2016
House leaders want ‘flexibility’ on MACRA start
Letters
Published: September 6, 2016
Re: Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and OtherRevisions to Part B for CY 2017; Medicare Advantage Pricing Data Release; Medicare Advantage andPart D Medical […]
Letters
Published: September 5, 2016
Subject: CMS-1654-P Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies under thePhysician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2017 Dear Mr. Slavitt, On behalf of the American Association […]
Article
Published: September 2, 2016
Medicare’s Global Surgery Payment Policy BackgroundUnder the current system, Medicare pays surgeons and otherspecialists a single fee when they perform complex proceduressuch as back surgery, brain tumor removal, joint replacement,heart […]
Letters
Published: September 2, 2016
SUBJECT: CMS-1654-P Medicare Program; Payment Policies Under the MedicarePhysician Fee Schedule (PFS) and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2017; DataCollection for Global Surgical Services Dear Mr. Slavitt: On […]
Letters
Published: August 23, 2016
Dear Acting Administrator Slavitt: The undersigned national medical organizations strongly recommend that the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services (CMS) restore the Refinement Panel to serve as the relative value appeals […]
Article
Re: RIN 2900–AP44-Advanced Practice Registered Nurses; Proposed Rule (May 25, 2016) The undersigned physician organizations representing national specialty and state medical societies arewriting to provide comments on the Veterans Health […]
Letters
Dear Senators: The Alliance of Specialty Medicine (the “Alliance”) represents more than 100,000specialty physicians from 13 specialty and subspecialty societies. The Alliance is deeplycommitted to improving access to specialty medical […]
Article
Neurosurgeons Join Alliance of Specialty Medicine in Expressing Serious ConcernsAbout Medicare’s New Physician Quality Payment ProgramUrge Senate Finance Committee to Press CMS to Make Substantial Changes Before Finalizing Payment Overhaul […]
Article
Chairman Hatch, Ranking Member Wyden, and members of the Committee, the Alliance of SpecialtyMedicine (the Alliance) would like to thank the Senate Committee on Finance for the opportunity toprovide feedback […]
Article
MACRA Comment Period Ends With Burst of Feedback
